Lawmaker handouts come to an end

PANAMA lawmakers are going to find it harder to reward family members and supporters or buy votes for re-election following the ban on all types of donations or subsidies by  the institution.

National Assembly, president  Yanibel Abrego, made the announcement of the prohibition on the re-opening of the legislative body On Monday, July 9.

She said that the adopted measure is in faithful compliance with the ruling issued by the Supreme Court  The prohibition includes private donations or institutions, without exception.

The court said that there is no legal rule that states that the deputies or institutions as such, includes among its functions the giving of donations or providing subsidies.

The President of the National Assembly will deliver to the Comptroller, 514 checks of donations that were lodged in the Treasury Department for their annulment.

To ensure compliance with the measure, Abrego ordered that, if there are funds contemplated in the current term, they should be destined only for purposes authorized by the Constitution.

The donations of scores millions of dollars often with no clear destination or proof that they reached intended causes, was revealed by a La Prensa investigation, which triggered the Supreme Court ruling.